A magnetic core of an integrated magnetic device frequently includes magnetic material layers such as permalloy layers alternated with barrier layers of a non-magnetic barrier material. In some cases, this layer stack may be formed on a planar surface and patterned using an etch mask and a wet etch, which undesirably undercuts the etch mask and produces poor dimensional and profile control. Stress in the magnetic material is difficult to control in such a configuration, and can lead to degraded performance of the integrated magnetic device, for example Barkhausen noise. In other cases, this layer stack may be formed in a trench in a dielectric layer. The magnetic material layers conform to contours of the trench, resulting in a non-planar configuration which also leads to degraded performance of the integrated magnetic device.